OLEDs are evolving

But will they surpass LEDs for lighting applications? That’s one of the questions posed in this WorldChanging article. OLEDs are hanging out at the lower end of LED efficiency for now (still twice as efficient as incandescents, and nowhere near as efficient as fluorescents), and it’s difficult to predict which technology will advance further.

The exciting thing about OLEDS is that they are used by sandwiching a layer of phosphorescent material between two conductors. This means that the whole device could take the form of a flexible sheet or a special paint — they can even be printed using modified inkjet printers. And since a display made of OLEDs both produces a better picture than an LCD screen and changes its image faster, it seems like just a matter of price before they replace laptop screens.

Best of all, OLEDs are greener to produce than either LEDs or fluorescents.